From “The Last Riddle of Aaiun” by Thor Williamon

Three figures loom below a vision of perfect, immortal Vloles, and all three are consumed, from below, by flames.

This is the cover of Le Aaiun’s book, and it comes from a drawing by Le herself in the scattered notes that were later compiled, along with notes from interviews, into the finished book. Ad Dakhla was himself a writer, poet, and artist of some note, and he was responsible for turning Le’s sketch into the beautiful but apocalyptic vision for her book. In the preface, he writes on the artwork’s context:

“The one and only time I was able to ask Lady Aaiun about her drawing, she was weaving in and out of consciousness shortly before she went missing. She told me that the drawing depicted the ‘many-who-are-three’ and the ‘three-who-are-many.’ When I asked if she meant the three godheads, she vehemently shook her head. ‘No, they are the many-who-are-three, the three-who-are-many. They are guided, guarded by the spirits of dead suns, and dream no more.'”

“I think it likely that they three figures are the Light, the Dark, and the Nameless. Perhaps in her talk of dead suns, the Lady Aaiun gave us her ultimate clue as to the very nature of the dreamlands, of Vloles, and of life eternal. I must leave it for a greater mind than mine, however, to piece together this last puzzle. I can only curate the pieces as best I can in the hopes that someone will assemble them in time.”